According to Book Club Chicago, a benefit show will be held at the school on Thursday to raise funds for the Jayden Perkins Memorial Scholarship to honor the young dancer, the first in 70 years to have a financial aid award named after him.

“This gives us the chance to always remember who Jayden was,” executive director Amy Giordano said. “He was always present and engaged, and for that you should be rewarded.”

As Blavity reported, Perkins was killed on March 13 while trying to protect his pregnant mother and unborn sibling from serial domestic abuser Crosetti Brand, 37, who forced his way inside their apartment. When police arrived at the scene, they found both the 11-year-old and his mother with stab wounds after being attacked.

Jayden Perkins

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